History of BLS Safety and Health Statistical Programs

The seeds for safer workplaces through improving knowledge were sown at the beginning
of the 20th century. Back then, the Bureau of Labor Statistics fielded its first full-scale
survey of safety and health conditions in American workplaces, with its 1912 study of
industrial accidents in the iron and steel industry. Paralleling its interest in worker
safety, the Bureau also sponsored the pioneering work of industrial hygienists, such as
Dr. Alice Hamilton's early 20th century research on lead poisoning in the workplace. Other
BLS studies of individual industries and safety and health topics followed, but it was not
until the late 1930's that injury recordkeeping was sufficiently uniform to permit the
collection of nationwide work injury data.

Once the American Standard Method of Measuring and Recording Work Injury Experience
(the Z16.1 standard) was accepted by employers and statistical agencies, the BLS launched
an annual nationwide survey of work injuries that resulted in death, permanent impairment,
or temporary disability (unable to perform a regularly established job beyond the day of
injury). Spanning three decades, these surveys proved useful in measuring and monitoring
injury frequency and severity. However, they had some major limitations:
first, the work injury data were compiled only from employers who volunteered to
record and report that information; second, only disabling injuries defined in the Z16.1
standard were counted. Thus, numerous work injuries that required medical treatment but
did not result in a full day away from work were excluded from survey estimates, as were,
with few exceptions, occupational illnesses. These
and other limitations eventually were addressed in a major piece of safety legislation
passed by the Congress in the waning days of 1970.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was passed to ensure "so far as
possible every working man and woman in the nation safe and healthful-working conditions
and to preserve our human resources" (PL 91-596, 1970). As a result of this
legislation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created under
the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health to enforce the
regulations established by the 1970 act. Very specific language in the act gave an
indication that Congress recognized statistics on workplace injuries and diseases were
essential to an effective national program of prevention. The act, among other things,
directed the Secretary of Labor to issue regulations to require employers to maintain
records on workplace injuries and illnesses. The
Secretary of Labor was also directed to compile accurate statistics on occupational
injuries and illnesses and to make periodic reports on such occurrences.

The responsibility for collecting statistics on occupational
injuries and illnesses was delegated to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In order
to further the purposes of this act, the language was quite specific: "the Secretary
shall compile accurate statistics on work injuries and illnesses which shall include all
disabling, serious or significant injuries and illnesses, whether or not involving loss of
time from work other than minor injuries requiring only first aid treatment and which do
not involve medical treatment, loss of consciousness, restriction of work or
motion, or transfer to another job." The purposes of the act are quite comprehensive
and include the establishment of occupational safety and health standards, carrying out
inspections and investigations, ensuring the maintenance of recordkeeping by employers on
occupational injuries and illnesses, requiring reporting by employers of work-related
deaths, and conducting research relating to occupational safety and health.

OSHA is charged with the responsibility of enforcing
the provisions of the 1970 act, and BLS is the collector of statistics.